A.F. Branco Joins ARRA News Service As Contributor

A.F. Branco: Self Portrait

Bill Smith, Editor: As regular readers know, I love to feature the art of William Warren who pokes fun at liberals progressives. But do you know what is even better? It is having more than one favorite cartoonist poking fun at liberals! One of my "other" favorites is Antonio F. (A. F., aka Tony) Branco who hails from Mount Vernon, Washington. He is a Christian conservative friend who has agreed to contribute his cartoons to the ARRA News Service.

Tony is like many of my "right-minded" friends. He wears the independent conservative label which affords him more freedom to lampoon moderate conservatives who wimp out on their responsibilities. It also allows him to carry conservative message to his more liberal friends in the art and music communities.

A.F. has been an artist most of his life principally working in graphic design. On Christmas of 2008, his wife, April, bought him an easel and acrylic paints and he started painting. He has continued painting what he likes and feels. Fortunately for us, as a conservative, he also shares his opinion on today's issues via political cartoons.

Branco is the epitome of the grassroots underground starving artist. As a young aspirant in the art world, the teacher kicked him out of his high school classroom because the blossoming artist didn't like drawing fruit. Readers may have had a similar experience as Branco. I for one found myself booted out of art classes as early as junior high for drawing - should I say it - "girls." Hey, if they had nurtured me, I might have been tempted away by the dark side (liberals) from my budding Christian beliefs and become a world class illustrator of "sex ed" textbooks. I digress, back to aka Tony, our newest contributor.

Branco, a veteran, attended college on the GI Bill and says that he "made it through a couple years of college before thinking better of it." Today, his liberal art and music friends don't quite know what to make of him. He hopes that everyone can find some facet of his work to enjoy. And yes, like most artists and "real" bloggers [those not working for the lame street press and being paid to act like bloggers], he appreciates donations / complements to sustain his work.

Bronco admits that he can't be "pigeon holed" and that he mentally resides somewhere between the Far Side and the Right Side of every issue. He sits at his desk, crafting the Comically Incorrect. After years of listening to the squeaky wheel of the left (or the worst wheel of the cart, as Benjamin Franklin put it) advance the cause of radicalism, he decided that he would use the power of his bully palette to advance the conservative movement. Since the dawn of the Republic, the art and humor of the political cartoon has been a way to sway those who might not otherwise be persuaded.

In April, 2010, he decided to do cartoons. He said that he was tired of "screaming at the TV set." He asked himself questions that many of today's conservative activists have or hopefully will ask themselves, "What can I do? What do I have to offer?" His conclusion, "Well, because I could draw since I was able to change my own dippers, I thought maybe that's an area where I could advance our cause."

Tony and the Tigers

Today, our newest contributor, A.F. Branco, now has over 9000 fans on his FaceBook Fan Page: "Freedom's Battle." If you are a conservative on facebook and have not "liked" his fan page, well just do it! His Cartoon website is "Comically Incorrect."

Before creating political cartoons, he was covering canvases with paint. To view photos of his paintings, visit his Art Gallery website. His paintings are registered with the Library of Congress. If you like his art, become a patron and order one of his prints.

Well this article would not be complete if we didn't mention Branco's musical talent. Before potential presidential contender Mike Huckabee had his band called the "Little Rockers", A.F. (Tony) was playing and still plays with "Tony and the Tigers." Mike and Tony even both play the bass guitar. Maybe Mike should invite Tony to the "Huckabee" show!

In closing, we hope you will enjoy A. F. [Anthony - aka Tony] Branco's political cartoons featured on the ARRA News Service. And, if you are still a conservative sitting on the sidelines, please follow Branco's wisdom: "Ask Yourself: What Can I Do With What I Got? Then Just Do It!"

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Tags: A.F. Branco, Tony Branco, Antonio Branco, artist, cartoons, political cartoons, conservative, Freedom's Battle, paintings, music, base guitar, Tony and The Tigers, Mike Huckabee, Little Rockers, ARRA News Service, Bill Smith To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!